TikTok Files Legal Challenge Against Federal Government Shutdown Order

Article content

TikTok is challenging the federal government’s order to close its operations in Canada, saying it will eliminate hundreds of jobs and could end a quarter of a million contracts it has with Canadian advertising clients.

Article content

Article content

The company filed documents in Federal Court in Vancouver on December 5, seeking to overturn the order to liquidate and cease its operations in Canada.

Article content

The government ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian operations in November after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform.

This means TikTok must shut down its operations in Canada, although the app will continue to be available to Canadians.

TikTok wants the court to suspend the order while it explains why the government’s decision should be overturned.

He says the minister’s decision was “unreasonable” and “motivated by inappropriate objectives.”

“TikTok Canada provides hundreds of Canadians with well-paying jobs and contributes millions of dollars to the Canadian economy each year,” the application states. “Through the TikTok platform, Canadian businesses and content creators can reach a global audience of more than 1 billion monthly users. »

The review was carried out under the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment that could harm national security.

The Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, then declared in a press release that the government was taking measures to face “specific risks to national security”, without however specifying what these risks were.

Article content

Article content

TikTok’s legal motion states that Champagne “failed to engage with TikTok Canada on the purported content of the concerns that led to (the order).”

The company says the government ordered “measures that have no rational connection to the national security risks it identifies.”

He asserts that the reasons for this order “are unintelligible, fail to reveal a rational chain of analysis, and are replete with logical fallacies.”

TikTok Canada also says it “participates in important Canadian public policy issues at the federal and provincial levels, including those related to online safety, elections and culture.”

The company’s filing states that TikTok Canada “worked with Elections Canada and the Privy Council Office on partnerships to support election integrity on the TikTok platform.”

TikTok says Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s Foreign Investment Review and Economic Security Directorate “abruptly” ended the company’s national security review in late October and ordered the company to end its Canadian operations a week later.

Article content

The company’s legal filing says there were “less onerous” options than ordering the shutdown, which it said would “result in the destruction of significant economic opportunities and intangible benefits for creators, artists and Canadian businesses, as well as for the Canadian cultural community as a whole.”

The company’s law firm, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, declined to comment.

A spokesperson for Champagne said the government’s decision was informed by “a thorough national security review and advice from the Canadian security and intelligence community.”

“While we respect the legal process, we maintain our decision to prioritize the safety and security of Canadians,” Audrey Milette said in a statement.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the order would “eliminate the jobs and livelihoods of our hundreds of dedicated local employees – who support the community of more than 14 million monthly Canadian users on TikTok, including businesses, advertisers, creators and specially developed initiatives. for Canada. »

Article content